Mutant Sunflower invasion

We have giant sunflowers growing in the back yard. Rick is 6' tall so I think the tallest one might be 12'. This picture was taken yesterday and today, they're even taller and the fourth flower has opened.

The fun thing is that we never planted them. In between the sunflowers is our tiny little apple tree. Last year, one sunflower sprung up in the dirt around the apple tree. We let it grow. I think the Stellar Jays must have brought the seeds in from a neighour. They're always in our yard for the crabapples. The Jays, not the neighbour. The flower from last year was just as tall. By the end of the summer, the seed head was about 12" wide. The Jays would fly at it, hang upside down and peck at the seeds. These flowerrs are from the dropped seeds last year.

The little apple tree is doing really well. We feed it quite a bit since it has to share the space with the sunflowers. One thing we noticed is that the tree is doing better, surrounded by the flowers. It had been touch and go for the two years with all sorts of problems and insects. I don't know if the sunflowers are helping but the apple tree doesn't seem to have any of the blights.

Sock Cuffs

Of all the different styles of knitting a sock cuff, this one is probably the best (in my humble opinion). I credit this to Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'm sure lots of other people over the history of knitting had done the same thing but EZ was where I first learned about this. Combined this with a K2P2 ribbing and you have the perfect cuff!

Cast on double the stitches you'll need over two needles in the size you're going to knit with. Pull out one needle. First round, knit or purl two stitches together - whatever you chose for the ribbing. By far, the superior sock cuff. I like using two needles to cast on because when I pull out the extra needle, it leaves lots of room for me to easily knit/purl 2tog without struggling. Easier on my hands.